How To Go From Yongsan to Nami Island

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A blog reader recently asked for the direction on how to go from Yongsan to Nami Island.

Question:

“Hi, I still blur. Do I need to go to subway at yongsan station? and you need to find ITX train cheongchun line to gapyeong station? Coz I try to go the korea subway click from yongsan to gapyeong the cost is 2000+ won. Can u explain to me . Thank you.”

Answer:

There are many ways to go to Nami Island, as below from the most expensive to the cheapest but with the least time consuming to the most time consuming..in that order (You win some and lose some :)) :

**There are other stops too but with limited frequency which I did not mention here. Read more here if you are interested. If you are in Seoul, take the ITX from either Yongsan or Cheongnyangni station.

Yongsan station is big where there are subway lines, train lines and KTX line connecting here. You can get lost inside it or inside the shopping complex which is attached to it. HUGE and the electronics stuff there will make you blind. ^^

Reminder:If you are at Yongsan Metro Station – you cannot buy an ITX ticket from the subway ticket machines.

You need to get out from the Metro station and find the gate for ITX line; there are a few ITX ticket machines there OR you can go to any of the Ticket Officer at the Ticket window as the picture below.

The best is to buy the ITX ticket online and you can read more here on how to buy them. Save your time and you could secure your seats number earlier.

Make sure you buy the ticket online at least a week ahead especially if you plan to go during the weekend. Nami Island is quite the tourist spot because of Winter Sonata Korean drama.

The price for an ITX ticket from Yongsan station to Gapyeong Station is: 5,200 won (one way).

The price for a subway ticket from Yongsan station to Gapyeong Station is: 2,350 won (T-Money) and 2,450 won (cash)(one way).

The journey time with ITX: 55 minutes.

The journey time with subway: 1 hour 39 minutes (it can be more if you miss your connecting train at Sangbong station…but it is half the price of ITX and double the heartache..as I would like to put it :)).

If you come during winter season, I personally prefer ITX. You can just snooze your time away from Gapyeong back to Yongsan because it is the last station!! 🙂

Krizzia Manzano

zarinajanikorea

Hi Krizzia,
You may if it is not sold out.
Try not to go to Nami Island on weekends or on Public Holidays.
If you go between Monday to Friday, normally there are tickets available.
If not, you may request for standing tickets (no seat available- you need to stand the whole 1 hour journey)

Chin Ying Jie

May I ask how I can get the ITX tickets from Gapyeong Station to Yongsan Station? Must I buy it at Yongsan Station in the morning or can I buy it directly when I want to head back to Seoul? Or is there anywhere else I can get it? Thank You

zarinajanikorea

However, from my experience, they are always sold out when I try to buy or book them especially on the weekends.

So I normally plan how many hours I would spend at Nami Island which is most of the time between 4-5 hours (including ferry and taxi time at the jetty) and then find my suitable time to return from Gapyeong. Then, I buy the ticket a few days ahead at Yongsan station or online.

Claire

zarinajanikorea

Hi Claire,
They do accept credit card there but the ‘question’ is whether there are available tickets left when you purchase at the counter.
This is because tickets to Nami Islands are sold out like hot cakes and mostly we book and pay at KORAIL website about a week before the going date.

Tika

Hi Zarina, I want to ask, do they really accept debit card? because I want to book online but me and my friends don’t have any credit card. I only have debit card affiliates with MasterCard. Thank you 🙂

zarinajanikorea

Hi Tika,
It should be no problem. Just inform your bank to approve the card for online transaction first. You cannot do the transaction if there is no approval to allow the card for online trx by your bank.